Bill > S2234

Introduced Session

This bill establishes the Office of New Americans in the New Jersey Department of Human Services to support individuals who are eligible to access services under existing laws. In doing so, this bill codifies the Office of New Americans established in 2019 pursuant to Executive Order No. 74 of 2019. The commissioner will appoint the director, and the director will be the administrator and head of the office. The bill requires the office to be a centralized location for expertise and data on New Americans and to engage in programs, initiatives, and policies focused on successful integration for immigrants, refugees, and their children. The office will also provide technical assistance, recommendations, and training to other offices and departments in the Executive Branch on issues pertaining to effective and equitable engagement with New Americans. The bill also requires the Department of Human Services, through the Office of New Americans, to: 1) administer services for New Americans; 2) engage directly with immigrant and refugee communities and service providers to understand and address their concerns and the obstacles they face in accessing services and resources; and 3) support and provide policy and programmatic guidance and expertise to State departments and agencies, as well as other organizations, on community engagement and outreach to promote best practices and improve the accessibility of State programs and information by New Americans. Additionally, the bill requires the office to use any individual's contact information obtained by the office solely for the purpose of administering programs and providing services implemented and overseen by the office and to not use or disclose such individual's contact information for any other purpose except to the extent required by federal law or a judicial order. Records maintained by the office in connection with services offered by the office to any individual, including the portion of any record containing "personal identifying information" as defined under existing law, would be exempt from the public access provisions of P.L.1963, c.73 (C.47:1A-1 et seq.), commonly referred to as the Open Public Records Act.

AI Summary

Committee Categories

Teresa Ruiz (D)*,  Andrew Zwicker (D)*,  Joe Cryan (D),  Gordon Johnson (D),  Angela Mcknight (D),  Raj Mukherji (D), 

Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee (on 01/13/2026)

Official Document